Pages

Wednesday, July 09, 2014

Slump Busting Non-Fiction

I've known for a long time that non-fiction can serve as a slump buster for me. Most recently, Delancey, by Molly Wizenberg got me going again after the rewarding, but very heavy, Ruby by Cynthia Bond. Since I had this topic on the brain I thought I'd pick out a few non-fiction books that might rattle your slump loose the next time you run into one.

Love the idea of the 50s and 60s? Into Mad Men, by chance? Then The Astronaut Wives Club, by Lily Koppel, might be for you.

Brain on Fire, by Susannah Cahalan, is one of those books made all the more terrifying because it's real. Cahalan lost her mental faculties over a long and mysterious illness and the road to recovery was not easy. This one will make your hypochondriac tendencies ramp up, for sure.

No non-fiction list is complete without David Sedaris. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim was the first book of his that I read, and I loved it. I loved it even more for listening to the audio. His delivery is superb!

I picked up The Glass Castle, by Jeanette Walls, for last year's #EstellaProject, and boy, I was floored! I read this memoir of a wonky, challenging childhood in one day. Just try it!

I Was Told There'd Be Cake!: Essays, by Sloane Crosley is a snarky good time. Crosley, a NYC publishing gal, can really weave a tale of life, love, and misunderstanding in the Big Apple. Think Sex and the City with more city and less sex.

Finally, This Book is Overdue! How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All, by Marilyn Johnson, is an all-time favorite. You may think you revere librarians now, but once you read this book, you'll admire them all the more.

42 comments:

Oh, I'm so glad to see I Was Told There'd Be Cake! on here! I grabbed it recently in a random library sale trip after remember hearing good things, but seeing an extra good review from you is an added bonus ;)

Great list! NF works as a slump buster for me too. My brain actually feels different when I read NF, so I'm not surprised that it helps. Wonder if there's a study on the brain reading NF vs the brain reading fiction?

I want to read (or listen) to all of these! I think they're all on my wishlist. I'm not sure I've ever used non-fiction to bust out of a slump but I can see how the right one would do that. I'm going to have to go look for I Was Told There'd Be Cake right now. The title alone cracks me up.

I love nonfiction more and more lately, so I'm glad you mentioned these titles - now I have more to add to my TBR list :) I've been wanting to read the Cake book for awhile, but wasn't so sure - until now. Thanks, Andi!

I could definitely use more non-fiction in my reading diet. I just picked up The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap and An Invisible Thread. Glass Castle is one of my favorite memoirs. I instantly felt my kids were too sheltered after that book!

I will have to check out Little bookstore and An Invisible Thread! Those don't ring a bell right off the bat, but I may have seen them along the way somewhere. Glass Castle was amazing, but so frustrating! I wanted to strangle her parents.

This past year has really shown me that nonfiction, narrative nonfiction in particular, is a slump buster for me as well. It's funny; in picking books for the beach, I have found myself reaching for the narrative nonfiction I have on my shelf! I'm going to look these up...maybe they'll come along too!

I also loved The Glass Castle. It was one of the first memoirs I read! I have Brain on Fire on request at the library, and I will certainly have to check out This Book is Overdue :) I recently enjoyed and blazed through Floating City, a memoir about NYC's underground economy. One of my favourite non-fiction books is Hitching Rides with Buddha by Will Ferguson.

Great post idea! I loved The Glass Castle and Brain on Fire (it was my book club selection a few months ago). I wasn't as keen on I was Told There'd Be Cake. I need to read this Sedaris...I've only read Owls.

Great list! My all-time favorite nonfiction book (excluding the ones about Oscar Wilde) is probably still And the Band Played On. It manages to be so gripping and suspenseful, even though it's a great big fat nonfiction book.

I love this list! I get into slumps all the time and I always think about making a list like this, just in case I'm not able to read any book. Brain on Fire was an amazing read, and a few of these books are in my TBR!

I listened to a big chunk of The Astronaut Wives Club when I was in Oregon this past spring, but got sidetracked and never finished. Not sure I cared enough about it to pick it back up...

The Glass Castle. Two thoughts. Eating butter and a very young child boiling her own hot dog. What a childhood! What neglect!

Favorite non-fiction? The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe. Summer at Tiffany by Marjorie Hart. Paris in Love by Eloisa James. Little Princes by Conor Grennan. All-time favorites? All Over But the Shoutin' by Rick Bragg. Fifty Acres and a Poodle by Jeanne Laskas. 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff.

The Glass Castle is one of mine, too! So is Eat Pray Love (#sorrynotsorry it is one of my faves). Is Everybody Hanging Without Me? by Mindy Kaling is a good one. I am reading 2 page-turner non fiction books right now, too - Free Spirit by Joshua Safran and Beautiful Boy by David Sheff.

Yes yes yes to The Glass Castle. The other day I was browsing books somewhere (OMG...maybe at Sam's Club?!) and saw a new book by her...old enough to be paperback. Not the one about her grandmother, though (which I have unread in hardcover). Have you read it? #vaguestcommentever

These are all the kind of nonfiction I like to read. For librarian memoirs, I liked The World's Strongest Librarian and Free for All. I thought I read This Book Is Overdue, but maybe not. I don't remember it, if I did. I have a copy of I Was Told There Would Be Cake lying around somewhere and have also been meaning to read Brain on Fire. I've listened to all my David Sedaris on audio because he does them himself. And loved The Glass Castle. Great list of slump-busters!